Behind the Scenes Stories From Our Acting Careers

Summary

Let's Not Talk About The Husband | Dear Media

Episode: Behind the Scenes Stories From Our Acting Careers

Release Date: September 5, 2025
Hosts: Lisa Rinna & Harry Hamlin

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Overview

In this episode, Hollywood power couple Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin take listeners on a candid, funny, and revealing journey through the quirks and milestones of their decades-long acting careers. From hilarious family anecdotes to hard-won industry wisdom, Lisa and Harry open up about everything from wardrobe habits and household battles to the drama of soap opera life, making it both a heartfelt and entertaining listen. They discuss the changing landscape for actors, the realities of fame, and how their respective upbringings, personalities, and choices shaped the legacies they've built—both onscreen and off.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Opening Banter: Life, Laundry & Lean Jean Philosophy

[00:32 - 03:40]

• Harry’s Haircuts and Life Markers:
  Harry jokes about having had the same hairstylist, Jonathan Antin, for 30 years, reflecting on the oddness of reaching such milestones.

• Wardrobe Habits & Family Laundry Feuds:
  Lisa teases Harry on his jeans habit, while Harry justifies it with his intermittent fasting routine and the satisfaction of fitting into old clothes.

  • Lisa tries to train the family to reuse towels, but the house is plagued by overfilled hampers due to frequent showers.

Notable Quote:

"You get to a point in your life when you can say, oh, he's been cutting my hair for 30 years. I mean, that's just like… there's something weird about that."
— Harry [01:10]

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2. Skims Bag & Kardashian Connections

[04:02 - 09:03]

• Skims Bag Mystery:
  Lisa points out Harry’s use of a Skims bag (Kim Kardashian’s shapewear line) that actually belongs to their daughter Delilah. Harry is oblivious to the branding, sparking playful banter.

• Behind-the-scenes of Kim Kardashian’s Early Branding:
  Lisa recounts being in a pre-launch SKIMS (then called Kimono) infomercial with Kris Jenner and Kyle Richards, revealing fun industry trivia.

Notable Quotes:

"Excuse me. It's like gorgeous female bodies on the bag, and you didn't look at it?"
— Lisa [04:42]
"I live with a gorgeous female. I sleep with a gorgeous female. Why do I need to look at another one?"
— Harry [04:47]

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3. Nipple Ring Chronicles: Cautionary Parenting

[09:03 - 14:17]

• The Nipple Ring Bra:
  A tangent about a SKIMS bra designed with fake nipple rings leads to stories of their daughters’ real piercings.

• Amelia's Medical Scare:
  Lisa shares a harrowing tale of daughter Amelia ending up in the ER—at Sherman Oaks Medical, then later, UCLA—with sepsis from a nipple piercing injury at Coachella.

  • Delilah also went through a piercing phase, but both daughters eventually removed them after this incident.

Notable Quote:

"She had sepsis. Sepsis in her fricking boob."
— Lisa [12:45]
"So there’s another cautionary tale. Don’t get a nipple ring."
— Harry [13:11]

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4. Tattoo Talk: The Next Generation’s Rebellion

[17:15 - 26:33]

• Tattoos as Individual Expression:
  Harry expresses both curiosity and resignation about Delilah and Amelia's various tattoos—aphorisms, secret ink inside lips, and behind the ears.

• Saturn Tattoo & Family Stories:
  Harry reminisces about teaching Amelia about space when she was little, linking to her Saturn tattoo. He dives into a humorous (and astonishing) math tangent about counting to a trillion, connecting it to Saturn’s distance from Earth.

Notable Quote:

"So if you stacked one quarter on top of another on Earth and you stacked a trillion quarters on top of each other... the stack apparently would go from here to the surface of Saturn."
— Harry [25:16]

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5. Voicemail Q&A: Drama, Nosiness, and Family History

[27:10 - 32:54]

• Advice Segment:
  Responding to a listener’s question on avoiding drama when you’re naturally nosy, Lisa admits to being a “shit stirrer” more than a snoop. Harry reflects on having "crazy" but beautiful exes and appreciates Lisa’s refreshing lack of suspicion.

Notable Quote:

"I was paid for it for eight years, so I was quite good at it. But I'm not getting paid for it anymore, so I don't do it anymore."
— Lisa [31:43]

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6. Becoming Actors: Paths, Parent Problems, and Rejection

[32:46 - 37:14]

• No Industry Nepotism:
  Both share that neither came from acting backgrounds. Lisa’s mother wanted to act but “was too chicken.” Harry’s family (apart from a distant painter aunt) was not artistic.

• Parental Resistance:
  Harry’s parents forcibly discouraged him (removing the distributor from his car to prevent acting school), leading him to bounce a check for a flight instead.

  • Lisa’s family was supportive, making her acting dream feel like “doing God’s work.”

• Rejection is the Norm:
  Both stress that acting is dominated by frequent rejection—about 1 yes per 30 no’s—requiring resilience and true passion.

Notable Quotes:

"The rejection is what is so, so huge. Because you get no way more than you ever get yes."
— Lisa [34:33]
"They took the distributor out of my car...so I took a bus to the airport and I bounced a check. The only time I have ever deliberately bounced a check."
— Harry [36:07]

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7. Lisa's "Days of Our Lives": Soap Stardom & Behind-the-Scenes Realities

[39:56 - 48:31]

• Soap Audition Anecdote:
  Lisa’s bold decision to cut her hair before a callback for “Days of Our Lives” led to her landing the role, which felt like “winning the jackpot” in her soap-obsessed household.

• Soap Opera Life:
  She explains the grueling pace (sometimes 40+ pages of dialogue overnight, 80-100 pages shot in one day), the pressure to memorize, and why many actors rely on cue cards.

Notable Quote:

"Soaps are very difficult because it's a show a day, and you got to learn your lines the night before. It is really the best training."
— Lisa [42:38]
"80 to 100 pages? Holy shit."
— Harry [48:01]

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8. TV vs. Film: Acting Rhythms & Burnout

[46:19 - 50:35]

• Harry’s Perspective:
  Contrasts the leisurely pace of 80s feature films (long discussions, slow workdays) with the relentless speed of TV—then the breakneck pace of soaps.

• Burnout and Longevity:
  Harry notes how even five years of “L.A. Law” was plenty; he’d be “bored out of my mind” doing the same character for 40+ years as soap actors do.

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9. Career Choices: Security vs. Freedom

[50:38 - 55:54]

• Why They Both Walked Away:
  Both describe making conscious choices to step away from steady, high-profile jobs at the right time in order to preserve freedom, life balance, and happiness—even if that meant less security or fame.

• The Big “What-If?”
  Harry admits Warner Bros “would have made me into a huge, huge movie star” had he wanted it, but he values the life, family, and freedom he chose instead.

Notable Quotes:

"The life of a big movie star is not much of a life at all...you're just making movie after movie after movie."
— Harry [54:08]
"You might not even be alive."
— Lisa, on the dangers of 80s Hollywood excess [54:57]

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10. The Realities of an Acting Life

[55:43 - 56:09]

• No Such Thing as a Steady Gig:
  Even success is temporary: every actor—no matter how famous—faces the end of their job and the question “now what?”

• Financial Wisdom:
  Advice from a fellow actor: “Save your pennies.”

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Parenting, Piercings & Risks:
  "You wanna know what's going on over there. I mean, that's what sells newspapers. That's what sells stories, you know." — Lisa [28:23]

• On Early Industry Hustles:
  "I think that's why I got the role—because I'd cut my hair... they had seen like, 225 girls already for this role." — Lisa [41:09]

• On Career Philosophy:
  "If you really think about it, the life of a big movie star is not much of a life at all...there won't be any life in there." — Harry [54:08]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Opening banter & Family habits: 00:32 – 03:40
• SKIMS, Kim Kardashian, & early gig stories: 04:02 – 09:03
• Nipple ring cautionary tale: 09:03 – 14:17
• Tattoo talk & Saturn anecdote: 17:15 – 26:33
• Voicemail Q&A (drama & nosiness): 27:10 – 32:54
• Becoming actors, family support & rejection: 32:46 – 37:14
• Soap opera grind, "Days of Our Lives": 39:56 – 48:31
• TV vs. film, burnout and acting pace: 46:19 – 50:35
• Freedom vs. security, career choices: 50:38 – 55:54
• Acting reality check, financial wisdom: 55:43 – 56:09

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Episode Tone & Closing Thoughts

Lisa and Harry deliver the episode with their trademark blend of warmth, candor, and irreverent humor. Lisa’s high-energy, bold storytelling is perfectly balanced by Harry’s easygoing wit and philosophical asides. The episode captures both the glamour and the grit of acting, offering listeners genuine behind-the-scenes wisdom, family drama, and plenty of laughs—essential listening for anyone interested in the realities of Hollywood, show biz marriages, and what it really takes to survive (and thrive) in a fickle industry.

"There's nothing secure about our life. Unless you had a steady gig. And there's no such thing as a steady gig in acting."
— Lisa [55:43]

Transcript

[A]

The following podcast is a Dear Media Production. Hi, I'm Lisa Rinna.

[B]

And I'm Harry Hamlin.

[A]

And this is let's not Talk about the Husband.

[B]

We've been together for over 30 years and we've been working in this industry a lot longer.

[A]

Well, you know, we have some crazy stories to tell. And on this podcast, we're gonna own it, baby.

[B]

Buckle up. Let's get into today's episode. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to let's not Talk about the Husband.

[A]

Nice haircut.

[B]

Thank you. Yeah, Jonathan, just cutting. I just figured out. I just left.

[A]

Jonathan Anton at Sally Hirschberger Salon.

[B]

Thank you. Jonathan Anton at Sally Hirshberger Salon. Which is. It's hard to say.

[A]

Sally Hirschberger Salon.

[B]

Anyway, that would be a good warm up exercise. Sally Hershey.

[A]

Sally Hirshberger Salon. Sally Hirschberger Salon.

[B]

You can say it easily.

[A]

Sally Hirschberger Salon.

[B]

Anyway, so I just was with Jonathan Anthony who cut my hair, and we just figured out that I started getting my hair cut by Jonathan in 1995.

[A]

That makes sense.

[B]

Which is exactly 30 years. Is it 30 years?

[A]

Oh, it really is.

[B]

My God, you get to a point in your life when you can say, oh, he's been cutting my hair for 30 years. I mean, that's just like. I don't know, there's something weird about that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm sorry. But anyway, 30 years.

[A]

Yeah. Anyway, in honor of you today, I've worn the same pair of jeans three days in a row.

[B]

Oh, really? And these are not the same pair of jeans, by the way.

[A]

They aren't.

[B]

They are not.

[A]

They look just like it, though.

[B]

Well, I have multiple pairs of jeans. I don't have just one pair of jeans.

[A]

Well, it feels like you have one pair of jeans that you wear constantly now.

[B]

Well, that pair of jeans that you're talking about.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Just happens to fit my very lean body because I've been intermittent fasting for now, what, five years maybe. Gradually my weight has gone down, down, down. So now I'm weighing exactly what I weighed when I was 17.

[A]

You're also not drinking.

[B]

Well, that's.

[A]

And drinking puts on.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

Poundages and that intermittent fasting, you know.

[B]

So I don't really eat until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I'm never hungry, you know, so that works.

[A]

So it works for you.

[B]

Yeah. So though the reason I wear those jeans over and over again, because they were too small when I bought them.

[A]

Oh, now they're not.

[B]

Now they fit perfectly.

[A]

That's like a heavenly thing.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, so I get it.

[A]

All right.

[B]

They feel good when I wear them. That's why I wear them. More than one? For more than one day. I mean, you guys. You and the girls, you wear two sets of clothes per day, maybe.

[A]

Easily. The girls are probably three or four.

[B]

They'll throw a pair of jeans on in the morning. Right. And they'll be in the hamper by noon to get washed. So that's why they have so many clothes, I guess, because they go through them like crazy.

[A]

Well, you know, I'm trying to train everybody. I mean, I'm still trying to have everybody even just use a towel more than once. Yeah.

[B]

How about that?

[A]

How about that?

[B]

Cause towels are dry more than once.

[A]

Just dry it and then use it. Maybe. How about three times? Times, yeah. Like, how many times do you guys use your towels? I try to do it, like, maybe three times, then put it in the laundry.

[B]

Yeah. There's no point in using a towel once because your body's completely clean when you come out.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So the cow is only getting wet when you come out of the shower. It's not getting dirty because your body's completely clean. So it will dry and be just as clean as it was before the first time you used it. I mean, but our hampers. When the girls. When all the girls are in the house, our hampers fill up with towels. Within 24 hours, they're full.

[A]

I know.

[B]

Cause they take several showers or baths a day. What about.

[A]

I'm trying. I'm just trying. That's my new thing. Like, guys, let's hang it even. You know, they get hung on the chairs, they get hung on the bathtub, wherever. But, like, let's use them more than once.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

I also want to point out, I think it's interesting that you are carrying a skims bag.

[B]

I am.

[A]

Yeah. That's a skims bag.

[B]

What is a skims bag?

[A]

Skims is Kim Kardashian's shapewear line, and I believe that was sent to Delilah.

[B]

It says Delilah's name on it.

[A]

Yeah, it was under the sink.

[B]

It's what I used to pull some clothes and stuff in.

[A]

I just think it's interesting. That's a very. She's done very well with that company. It's a really smart. It's shapewear, but she also has, like, sweats and, like, loungewear, and. But she started with this. These shapewear items, and, boy, is it smart.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In different colors.

[B]

I did not look at the bag when I was in the bag.

[A]

You didn't look at the Bag?

[B]

No, I just needed the bag.

[A]

Excuse me. It's like gorgeous female bodies on the bag, and you didn't look at it. Look at it.

[B]

It's cool. I live with a gorgeous female. I sleep with a gorgeous female. Why do I need to look at another one?

[A]

Well, that's true. I just think it's very interesting that you had a skims bag and you had no idea that it was a skims bag.

[B]

No, I didn't. I. I have this bag for the inside. For me, I'll put stuff in it.

[A]

Because we save our bags. We put them under the sink.

[B]

We save.

[A]

So when you need a good bag, you know, you save the good bags, right?

[B]

Well, you save the bags because you need. Every once in a while, you need a bag. Right. To put something in. But you don't want, like, a really fancy bag. You just need a bag to put some stuff.

[A]

But I did steal this back from Delilah, and she's had it for a couple years now. She's had it for three years, and now it's like a nice, big bag. So I'm throwing all my stuff in it and carrying it a lot.

[B]

That's really good to know. Are you happy out there that you know that about Lisa's bag?

[A]

They are. I'm sure they are.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How about about my bag? My skims bag? Okay.

[A]

They opened a store here in la, you know, and in New York, like, there's a.

[B]

What kind of store?

[A]

It's a skim store. Like a. Like a brand. Bricks and mortar. Because it was all online, this business.

[B]

So this is like that Spanx, right? Sort of a Spanx recreation, I would.

[A]

Say, in a way, yes. But taking it to the next level.

[B]

What'S the difference between this and Spanx Colors?

[A]

She has colors that are forever.

[B]

Spanx was just black, right?

[A]

Black and nude. But the thing that I love about this is it colors for everyone. Like, all different colors. And this is tighter than Spanx, I would say.

[B]

So these girls, if they weren't wearing Spanx and I'm holding up a bag, if they weren't wearing skims, they would look bigger than this.

[A]

I don't know if the word bigger is right. It shapes them.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So it, like, would snatch your stomach and it would maybe push up your bum and make your boobs stand at attention. Stand at attention a little more. Well, and, you know, curve your cellulite a little bit. And, you know, it's a really great. It's an awesome product.

[B]

Okay. Well, yeah, I mean, I think. Do you Own any of these?

[A]

I do. And, you know, I don't know if anyone remembers, but at the very beginning, before, right before she launched this, it was another name. It was called Kimono. I think Kimono would still had the name Kim in it, but they called myself and Kyle and asked us to come do, like, this fake infomercial with Kris Jenner. This is true story. So we filmed this really funny, like, fakey kind of infomercial for the brand. It wasn't called Skims yet, I believe. Again, I always say don't fact check me, but, you know, you can fact check me. I think it was called Kimono and then they changed it. Cause that name didn't feel right for them. But anyway, Kyle and I are there and we're doing something with Kris Jenner. And I remember the models come out in the things, and I have a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress on, and I literally take my dress off and I'm in one of those skim outfit things underneath, basically standing there almost naked. It's very funny, actually.

[B]

Is this an infomercial?

[A]

It's out there. I mean, you could probably YouTube, but it's there somewhere.

[B]

Did you get paid for this?

[A]

I don't believe I did. No. I might have. No. You know what? Kris Jenner gave me a really nice Chanel bag. Oh, thank you, Kris.

[B]

So you did get sort of paid for it.

[A]

Maybe we did get paid. I don't remember. They paid for hair and makeup. I know that. We went to a trailer. We had hair and makeup. We went to a studio in Studio City.

[B]

That makes sense.

[A]

It was fun. But it was before they renamed it Skim, so it was before it was launched. Anyway, you could probably YouTube it and find it. It's pretty fun.

[B]

I'm not gonna be doing that. YouTubing it to find it.

[A]

Well, I was telling about the people to do it.

[B]

You guys can go out and go on YouTube and find SKIMS or Kimono.

[A]

It's pretty funny, actually.

[B]

Yeah, but I just wanted the bag.

[A]

Well, you have it. There it is. And I forget what Delilah got. Oh, you know what Delilah got in that bag? I know exactly what she got.

[B]

Drumroll. Do we need to drum roll?

[A]

Yeah. It's actually pretty interesting. Kim came out with a bra that has a fake nipple piercing in it.

[B]

The bra does you mean it's got a little ring?

[A]

It's got a little ring in this, like, T shirt bra. And that's what Delilah wanted in the T shirt bra.

[B]

What does that mean? Like, what is a T Shirt bra.

[A]

The T shirt bra. It makes it smooth so when you're wearing a T shirt, your nipples are not popping out. But this bra actually has nipples built in with a. With a nipple ring so that even.

[B]

Though you're wearing a bra, it looks like your nipples are showing.

[A]

Yeah. With a nipple ring. It's kind of brilliant. It's kind of genius. So she sent her those. Kim sent her those, because I think Delilah had even said, hey, could you. You know, those girls DM people and ask for things.

[B]

I have not seen my daughter's bodies in many, many years. They don't have nipple rings, do they?

[A]

Well, uh.

[B]

Oh, well, I guess they do. Well, I'm about to find out.

[A]

Well, I think your memory has. You need to be jogged, because I've.

[B]

Never seen their boobs.

[A]

Well, let's go back a little minute. In the teenage years, I'm going to say when Everybody was, like, 19ish. Yeah. There was some nipple piercing going on.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How come I was out of the loop on that?

[A]

I don't think they were like, hey, dad, you want to look at my nipple piercing? I was the lucky person that got to know. I was so mad. I was mad because I think it. I just.

[B]

Did they come to you and ask your permission or they just didn't?

[A]

What do you think?

[B]

I guess they just did it.

[A]

No, they just did it. But don't you remember there was a little issue with Ms. Amelia at Coachella? Shall I just. Shall I help you with your memory?

[B]

What happened to, as long as we're not, like, letting some weird cat out of somebody?

[A]

No, no, no. I mean, it happened, and I think it's a cautionary tale.

[B]

Okay, what happened?

[A]

Well, Amelia had it. A nipple piercing somewhere. I don't know if it was both. It was probably both. And they were at Coachella, and ironically, she was at a party where erika Jayne was DJing. It's a true story. And she was, like, up on a balcony. Somebody pushed her, you know, kind of, like pushing forward, and her boob went into, like, a bush, and it, like, jammed the. The nipple into the boob. And then she came home that night, and all of a sudden, she had a super high fever, and her boob was this big. Don't you remember? And we did not know what to do, so we took her to Sherman Oaks Medical.

[B]

Did I take her myself or was this. Was I in town?

[A]

I don't remember. I just remember I took her. You took her, too? And she got X rayed. And they were like, I Mean, it was like two in the morning. She had a very, very high fever, and they X rayed her, and they were like. We. Because we thought maybe something was wrong with her rib. She knew that she'd been pushed into.

[B]

Somehow. You guys kept the fact that she had a nipple ring from you.

[A]

I just don't think you remember. I don't think it was a secret at that point.

[B]

Well, I think I would remember nipple rings on my daughters.

[A]

Well, you know, it's not like they were walking around naked. No, but let me finish. So that didn't fix it. Like, her boobs swelled up to this humongous size.

[B]

This.

[A]

I don't remember. Maybe you weren't here. But then we didn't know what to do, so we called an infectious disease doctor. She had to go to the infectious disease doctor. She had sepsis. Sepsis in her fricking boob.

[B]

From the nipple ring or from the accident?

[A]

Well, from whatever. It punctured when she was. Sorry, Amelia, but she punctured something when she went into the bush.

[B]

I don't want to hear anymore.

[A]

And she had sepsis, and she had to be on IV antibiotics for a week.

[B]

So.

[A]

No, it was actually very dangerous, guys. It was dangerous.

[B]

So there's another cautionary tale. Don't get a nipple ring.

[A]

But anyway, they're out now. They both came out after that situation.

[B]

She had two. And how about Delilah? Did she go down that road as well?

[A]

Oh, she was the first one to go down that road, but she took him out, too. Because Amelia's tale was very cautionary, and nobody wanted to die because they had a fricking nipple ring. And she literally had sepsis. We had to take her to ucla.

[B]

So are there any other piercings we had?

[A]

Listen, I'm not done. We had to take her to UCLA and have intravenous IVs of antibiotics for five days. And then on the weekend, we had to have a nurse come to the house and do two more days at the house.

[B]

I was definitely not here. I would definitely remember all of that.

[A]

I think you were maybe in Canada or you were shooting somewhere. Anyway. Anyway, it was very.

[B]

Or Coachella's in the spring. Coachella's in spring break. Right.

[A]

So it was April. It was very traumatic. So no more nipple rings and no more piercings. Cheers to that. You guys, be careful if you have piercings.

[B]

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[B]

And what about this the tattoo thing that's going on right now? So. So we're old. I'm really old. And you know, back in our day, back in my day, nobody got tattoos. If you were in the Navy.

[A]

Navy in the I was Going to.

[B]

Say, like in the army, anchor tattoo on your. Or something like that. I mean, a few people. But now this tattoo thing has gone way, way over the top. And. And Delilah has been getting, you know, little tattoos on her body for years now. And they show up from time to time, and I'll look over and I'll see another little one that says, like, something like, tomorrow is another day, or, this too shall pass, or interesting little. Little aphorisms like that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So one day, it was a couple years ago, I went over to her house and. And she'd just gotten another tattoo on her arm. And I said, oh, Delilah, please, please, please. I said, if you get another tattoo, it better say I love my dad on it. And she called me up the next morning and took a picture of her left foot. And on her left foot it now says, I love my dad because she got that tattoo that night.

[A]

Yes, I know. I don't love tattoos. Yes, I know.

[B]

Yeah. What's with the tattoo thing?

[A]

I don't know. It's like a rebellion for them at that point, or like, they want to, like, individuate. I think it's expression. It's. I get it.

[B]

But don't they know that, like, 20 years from now?

[A]

Well, how about when they're 65 and they're gonna be like, oh, shit. Or 75, and they're gonna be like.

[B]

Oh, well, it fades, they stretch. The wrinkles will come around them. They'll be. I mean, it just ain't gonna be the same. What can I tell you?

[A]

Well, listen, as a parent, you have to kind of pick your battles. And that's when I was just like, you know, if that's plus the fact.

[B]

I mean, she's an actress and a model and a singer. All of those things are when you, you know, will. She'll be on film, and she'll be shot on film at some point, and.

[A]

She'Ll have to cover them up. When.

[B]

She'll have to cover up her tattoos.

[A]

When we did the movie in. In Vancouver, Mommy Meanest, she had cover. They covered her arms. She's a high school student, so they covered her. All of her tattoos.

[B]

Yeah. Well, you. That you. Of course, you'd have to do.

[A]

Oh, wait, but how about when Amelia got one right in her lip? You remember that one?

[B]

Like a thoroughbred horse, the way they have them in their lips like that? What does it say? I don't remember.

[A]

There's one on her lip inside. Go like this. Have her go like this and pull her lip out. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

A secret tattoo inside her lip.

[A]

I'm like, I'll never forget. We were in Tokyo. We went to film in Tokyo with the girls, and Erica and I. We went to Tokyo. We're sitting at dinner, I look over, and I'm like, emilia's got a tattoo behind her ear.

[B]

She's got the Saturn tattoo.

[A]

Yeah. Well, I didn't know. And I was like.

[B]

Well, that's because when I used to put her to bed, we talked every night. We would talk about space. She was, like, totally fascinated.

[A]

She loved space, didn't she?

[B]

And she said, you know, she would say, dad. So if somebody goes. This is when she's like, six, right, dad? So. So if somebody goes to the moon, won't they fall off?

[A]

Oh.

[B]

And I say. I say, what do you mean? Well, it's just that round thing. It's flat. And, you know, because she didn't. She couldn't conceive of the moon being actually a sphere because she looks up in the sky and she sees this flat disc up there. So for her, it was like, if somebody lands on the moon, they're gonna fall off. Right. Anyway, so I would explain that to her, and I explained her how the solar system worked and how the Galax worked and all of that, and she became fascinated with it.

[A]

She did.

[B]

And then, without my knowing it, she got a tattoo of Saturn behind her ear. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And Delilah's got one, too. But I forget what's behind her ear.

[B]

And I think one of the ways that Saturn came up is that. And this is a funky statistic. I don't know how you would put it. Maybe it's statistic, but when Demetri was quite young, my son, he was in the backseat of the car, and we were driving somewhere, and he said, dad, we were talking about numbers, how big numbers get. And he said, dad, what's this? A trillion? How long would it take to count to a trillion? He said. And I go, how long would it take to count to a trillion? I don't know. This is when he was a kid. So it was before, like, computers had become.

[A]

You guys are all so smart. It goes right over my head.

[B]

What do you mean? No, I mean a trillion is a big number, right? And we hear about it every day in the news now, you know, because who's.

[A]

Is there a trillionaire company or is.

[B]

Well, yeah, there's several companies that have crossed into the trillion dollar valuation. I think that Nvidia is now $4 trillion. And, you know, we have trillions of dollars in debt and the number trillion comes up all the time. So Dimitri said to me, dad, how long would it take to count to a trillion? And I go, geez, I don't know. I mean, that would take a while. He says, can you find out?

[A]

And this is before Google and stuff, right?

[B]

You couldn't ask Siri at that point, right. So I was fascinated by the idea, and I went home and I tried to figure it out. And I didn't have a calculator or any way that had that many numbers in it, right? So finally, a couple years later, computers came out that would take that many numbers and you could actually do the calculations. And I figured that if you said 500 billion, 425 billion, 325,421, which would be one number out of the trillion in the billions range, it takes about 3 1/2 seconds to say that. So if I say, how long does it take to count to a trillion? Do you have to add the. If each number takes about three seconds, you have to average then that and then figure out how many years and how many seconds there are, and how many trillion seconds is how many years is that anyway? Very complicated. So I ask people sometimes to tell us to just guess how long it would take to count.

[A]

You've asked me before now. I can't remember. Well, I know the answer.

[B]

But most people say that would take a long time. That would take weeks. Most people say it takes years, right? Or months. And then some people. I think one person said that could take a year, you know, but then if you really do the calculations. Hey, we could ask Siri right now. Let me get my phone. So I figured. I figured, like. Okay, so it's too complicated to figure out exactly how long it would take because you'd have to figure out how long it takes to say, 325,000, 421. And then you have to add how many seconds.

[A]

I'm. I'm in Tahiti right now. I'm on the beach. I'm having a cocktail.

[B]

So anyway, forget all that stuff. Let's ask Siri. Because I said, okay, what if. What if each number took one second to count? Then how long would it take? And people say, well, that could take a year.

[A]

Just tell us, tell us, tell us.

[B]

Okay, I'm gonna ask Siri. Okay. Hey, Siri, how many years is a trillion seconds? 31,688.74 years.

[A]

Takes that many years?

[B]

So it would take 31,000, almost 32,000 years to count to a trillion. If you counted each number with one second. So that's how big our debt is. It's huge.

[A]

And we're what, three trillion? Our debt.

[B]

32 trillion.

[A]

What?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, now he's added more, though.

[B]

Another four. Another four. So, yeah.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

It's. No, it's a big number. Anyway. I don't know how that came up.

[A]

But, you know, we went from nipple piercings and sepsis to.

[B]

Yeah, we were.

[A]

To a trillion. How many years it takes. Well, that's us for you. That's us for you.

[B]

Well, the reason it came about Saturn is because.

[A]

Oh, because it's behind her ear.

[B]

Another guy came up with an analog. Okay. So one of the things is it would take 31,000 years. And the other guy came, he said, so if you stacked one quarter on top of another on Earth and you stacked a trillion quarters on top of each other, how far would that stack go? And the stack apparently would go from here to the surface of Saturn.

[A]

Okay, there we go.

[B]

Trillion quarters.

[A]

Now we have a. Connect the dot.

[B]

Yeah. A trillion quarters would stack of Saturn. And I told that to Amelia one time, and then she went out and got the tattoo of Saturn behind her ear. Got it. There you go. That's how that came up. Because of the Saturn tattoo. Anyway, she still likes the whole space.

[A]

She does. She's very smart, you know, she's like you smart.

[B]

And she knows that her grandfather worked on the rocket that took guys to the moon and stuff. So. Yeah.

[A]

Cool.

[B]

I think that's in her DNA somewhere. There's rocket scientists like her grandfather.

[A]

Yeah. And maybe she had another life on another planet or something.

[B]

Well, we know she's smart. We do know that she is. And she applies her whip smartness to getting whatever the.

[A]

They're both really smart, but she is, like, more like you smart than me smart. She's street smart.

[B]

Like, the only difference between intelligence wise between Amelia and Delilah is that Delilah second guesses herself. She's always right the first time she makes any kind of a determination. And then she.

[A]

Is that a first child thing? Maybe.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Like the firstborn.

[B]

She second guesses herself in school always.

[A]

Since she.

[B]

Whenever she did, like an equation or something like mathematics, her first answer was always right. And then she'd go and she would erase it and she'd put in an answer that wasn't quite right. If she had just had the same confidence of that she was right. Like Amelia doesn't. She doesn't second guess herself. She says I'm right.

[A]

She sure does not.

[B]

But Delilah's right every time.

[A]

She is.

[B]

So both of these kids are whip smart.

[A]

Well, everyone has their path, you know, we all have our path that we go on and have to go on.

[B]

Absolutely. So we've done a little kind of preamble here for the show today. Do we have other things to do?

[A]

I think we have. We're gonna answer some more voicemails or something, aren't we? Or questions. Yep. We have some voicemails for you guys.

[B]

Oh, there's Eve. Hi, Eve.

[A]

Hi, guys.

[B]

Our producer. Our brilliant producer, Eve.

[A]

I know, really, thank God for you guys. You guys are so sweet. No, we're just honest. You're the best guys. Okay, you guys ready?

[B]

Yeah, we are ready.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Hi, Lisa and Harry. I just have a quick question. How can I stay away from unnecessary drama when I'm naturally nosy? And I love a little confrontation from time to time. Thank you so much. Love you both.

[A]

Why do you have to stay away from it if you're nosy and you like a little confrontation? Maybe you just need a little bit of it, you know, to spice it up. I don't know. I think it comes with time. Like you allow yourself to do it for a while and then you'll kind of grow out of it.

[B]

Well, I'm. I'm questioning the idea of nosiness. What is that exactly? Is that somebody. Somebody who has to snoop around and. And look at people's diaries, open drawers and see what people have got stuffed in there? I mean, what is nosy?

[A]

I don't think it's that. I think it's more like you want to know other people's business. You put your nose into other people's business and that's where the drama comes in. Because it's not necessarily about you. You wanna know what's going on over there. I mean, that's what sells newspapers. That's what sells stories, you know, you.

[B]

Wanna know if you're doing that, then you want the drama.

[A]

Well, exactly. Yeah. I think that it was like a little bit of like a. How do I stop myself? But I really like it. So I'm just saying maybe you should just do it for a while.

[B]

It sounds to me like you gotta go for it. I mean.

[A]

Yeah, just do it.

[B]

I'm not nosy at all. I've never read any of your diaries or never looked in the kids drawers to see what they're hiding in there. It's not. And I think that's a really good policy. I don't get into anybody else's business. I got way too much business of my own. But I noticed with my son, his mom, Ursula Andrus. Particularly nosy kind of person would like to know what you're doing and what you're up to at all times.

[A]

Isn't that kind of a control thing also?

[B]

I would say it is. 100%. I'll never forget when Ursula and I were living together here in la. I wanted to get her a car for her birthday. And in order to surprise her, I had to go and do a lot of stuff that she didn't know about. I had to get to the car lot on my own. I had to make the arrangements. I had to pay for the car and had to have it delivered. I had to get a find.

[A]

What kind of car did you get her?

[B]

It was a Volkswagen Golf. A convertible. Little Volkswagen.

[A]

Oh, those are cute.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, it was a cute little car. But when I spent all this time trying to arrange for a surprise, she got panicked that I was having an affair, because I was gone. She didn't know where I was going. I wouldn't tell. I would make something up.

[A]

You were with crazy bitches, Harry. You just were with some crazy bitches, man.

[B]

But they were all cute. I mean, I gotta say, they were gorgeous.

[A]

No, they were gorgeous, but they were fucking crazy. Like, all of them.

[B]

Well, from your lips. From your lips. I can't go there.

[A]

That's my opinion. They were all fucking crazy.

[B]

But I know that.

[A]

You're so fucking lucky now.

[B]

Well, I am. I don't have a suspicious wife.

[A]

I definitely am not suspicious. And, I mean, I'm good crazy. I'm not like, that kind of crazy. They were fucking crazy. Well, sorry, girls, but as long as. Hey, cray.

[B]

The question that we're answering is coming from someone who isn't afraid to be nosy or. I mean, is this.

[A]

Well, it sounds like he's not afraid, but he's like, how do I curb it? Yeah, wasn't that the question, Eve? Like, how do I stop myself? It sounds like you maybe just don't. And I think because I have a lot of that in me, you know, there's a lot of, like. I think I'm more of, like. No, I'm more of a shit stirrer. I'm not really nosy. I just love to, like.

[B]

Yeah, you can't help yourself.

[A]

No, I love it. I wouldn't call it nosy, though. I would call it shit stirring. Like, I. I love to just kind of go like that. It's so fun to me. But after a while, you go, you know what? I don't think I need to do that. Somewhere. I got so much. I've got that out of my system.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I don't need any drama at all in my life. There's way too much going on.

[A]

I was paid for it for eight years, so I was quite good at it. But I'm not getting paid for it anymore, so I don't do it anymore.

[B]

Thank God. No, no, you're. You're saying of all of the women that I've been with and not that many, by the way. I mean it.

[A]

Oh, come on.

[B]

I'm a marrying man.

[A]

Well, I know, but you have probably been with a lot of women in your life. Life.

[B]

No, not that many. Maybe in two hands.

[A]

Your voice went high.

[B]

What?

[A]

When you said that.

[B]

No, no, no. I was never dated. I married people.

[A]

That's true. You did. You. You did. You did.

[B]

So, yeah.

[A]

Babies with people. And you had. You got married.

[B]

Yeah. No, I'm not a big date person. And I was never someone to sew my wild oats, you know, when I was in my 20s, teens and 20s and stuff like that. No, and in my 20s, I was very focused on a career. Yeah, you were very focused on, you know, becoming the best actor that I could be. Which, by the way, takes some time and effort. I mean, it's not.

[A]

Just.

[B]

Doesn't just come naturally, that. That craft.

[A]

No, I was thinking that the other day. I was thinking, you know, we should talk about that at times or at some point, you know, like how. How we did it. Cause I think people are curious about, like. Cause you and I never came from any acting background.

[B]

No. And no one in our family was in the arts. Well, my aunt who lived in Buffalo, New York, was a painter.

[A]

Oh, right.

[B]

And her paintings. She was sort of an expressionist painter, and she followed in the footsteps of Picasso and people like that. And she hangs in her house.

[A]

What's her name? She's in our house.

[B]

Martha Wissertruft. And she's a Dutch name. She married a Dutchman, Wiszert Hooft. And she hangs in the Met. And she's. Yeah, she was very, very exceptional painter. So that's the only person in our family tree that had anything to do with the arts. My father. Nothing.

[A]

And my dad, artist. Your dad is really creative and really beautiful artist.

[B]

But not in acting.

[A]

Nobody in acting.

[B]

Not in the performing world, the entertainment world. Yeah.

[A]

My mom wanted to be an actress and was, from her own words, too chicken. Too scared to really go and do it. At that time in life, you know, women weren't really going out on their own and working as much, of course, as we do now. And she always regretted not doing it. And I think I was born. I just like, had to do it because she didn't get to ever do it.

[B]

Those of us who end up doing it, we do it regardless of whatever obstacles are in our way.

[A]

Cause it's hard. I mean, it's not an easy profession. No one's handing you anything.

[B]

No, it's.

[A]

You gotta work, honey.

[B]

People say, should, should. Should I become an actor?

[A]

I go, well, yeah, you gotta really love it.

[B]

You gotta really love doing.

[A]

The rejection is what is so, so huge. Because you get no way more than you ever get. Yes.

[B]

Yeah, no, I, I would say that. What, what would you say the ratio is? Maybe one yes for everybody. 30 no's or more. Yeah, well, you got to get really used to rejection. You gotta go, yo, I'm okay. Even though they didn't get that job, you know.

[A]

Yeah, they went a different way. They decided to go a different way. Do you know how many times I've heard that?

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, they loved, they loved your reading. But they've, they, yeah, they're. They're moving on. They're.

[A]

They're going in another direction.

[B]

Forward. It's not going to move forward. All these different ways. They can say it now. They don't tell you anything now. You do an audition, you never hear from them unless you get the job.

[A]

Well, now, because they're all self tapes.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

They all have to self tape themselves, which is real hard. I'd rather go in a room.

[B]

But your parents were supportive of you?

[A]

Very. Are you kidding?

[B]

Mine were totally the opposite and they wanted me. They took the distributor out of my car when I was going to acting school the morning I was gonna be driving to acting school in San Francisco. I go down, I load up my car with all my shit and I go to start it. And it doesn't start. I go, yesterday my car worked fine. I opened the hood and I look inside and they've taken the distributor out of the car, which is the heart of the car.

[A]

That's like a jealous wife kind of thing.

[B]

Yeah, well, I'll never forget it. And I go. Because they really didn't want me to be an actor. They wanted me to.

[A]

See, that would make me want to do it more though. That probably was good for you because I'm so rebellious. I would be like, fuck you. I'm going to Even do it more.

[B]

Well, and it did because I. I pulled my suitcase out of the car. I had a guitar and a suitcase, and I left all the other crap that I was going to drive to San Francisco in the car. And I took a bus to the airport and I bounced a check. The only time I have ever deliberately bounced a check, because I knew I didn't have the $25 for the ticket in my account when I wrote the check to PSA Airlines and they took the check and I flew to San Francisco and went to acting school, but I bounced that check.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

25 bucks is what it used to cost to fly from LA to San Francisco.

[A]

That's all.

[B]

That's it.

[A]

Geez.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. No, my parents were so supportive. It was like I was doing God's work, you know?

[B]

Really? And my parents hated what I was doing. And they didn't talk to me the whole three years I was in acting school. They didn't talk to me.

[A]

Are you kidding?

[B]

No. I was like Persona non GR in the family. My brother said, oh, you can't be an actor, Harry. I'll be paying for you for the rest of your life.

[A]

Ha. You sure showed them, didn't you?

[B]

Well, they stopped squawking as soon as I started paying their taxes for them. Taking care of business. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Well, that'll do it. There's something about a love story that takes your breath away. Not because it's perfect, but because it's impossible. Imagine finding the person you are meant to be with in the very place designed to destroy you. Imagine choosing love when everything around you was hate. Everything designed to strip away hope. That's not just romance. That's survival. That's destiny. That is exactly what I felt watching Artist at War. The film opens September 26th. Visit baomovie.com to see the trailers. If you're moved by Schindler's List or even the bittersweet hope in Jojo Rabbit, you'll understand why Bao is different. This isn't just about what you've lost. It's about what was found. The resilience of the human heart. Love, joy, humor, even moments of laughter. Tucked inside the most unthinkable darkness. Artist at War tells a remarkable true story of Joseph Bao, a brilliant artist and master forger who risked everything to help others survive. But what moved me the most was his love for Rebecca. Against all odds, in the middle of the Plaszow concentration camp, they secretly married. An act of defiance. But more than that, an act of hope. That moment was so powerful. It was later immortalized in Schindler's List. This isn't just history. It's one of the greatest true love stories of our time. Artist at War, directed by incredible Sean McNamara, opens only in theaters for a limited run beginning September 26th. Visit bow movie.comb a u movie.com to watch the trailer, learn about Joseph and Rebecca's real life journey, and find sometimes near you. For me, this wasn't just a film. It was a reminder. A reminder that love isn't fragile. Love is fierce. Love can outlast even the darkest days. Joseph and Rebecca's story proves that. Bow Artist at War opens September 26th. Visit baomovie.com to watch the trailer and learn more. Sign up your organization for a group screening. Again, that's Baumovie.com you know, when I got Days of Our Lives, my mom and I had watched it. I grew up watching Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives with my mom. Watched it every single single afternoon. And then once the VCRs came around, we would tape it and watch it. So when I got the audition to go and audition for Days of Our Lives, it was such a huge deal because I grew up watching it.

[B]

Oh, right.

[A]

I mean, it was like in my house, it was like the one thing that was watched every single day.

[B]

And I think you got that audition after you and I had met.

[A]

No, I got four.

[B]

But you hadn't gotten the job yet. When you first started going, you hadn't gotten the job.

[A]

No, because remember, I cut my hair when I went to audition first for Billy Reid. I had long hair, Right. And then. Which you're not supposed to do. Like if you're auditioning for a role, they say to keep yourself, you know, consistent, like go in with the same shirt and the same pants and the same hair for some reason.

[B]

You mean for the callbacks?

[A]

For the callbacks, yes. So you get a first call. You go in. Usually just read for the casting director. If you were at the place I was at. I wasn't going in for producers. I was going in for casting. And then if casting liked me, they would send me to producers. So when I got the call back, I had cut my hair off because I was in that rebellious stage. I'd broken up with Peter Barton, and I saw this girl in acting class who'd cut her hair. So I had her hair come to my house and cut my hair. And I swear that's what got me the job. Because they had seen, like, I think they said they had seen like, 225 girls already for this role.

[B]

And they'd seen you already and they'd called you back.

[A]

Yeah, and I'd cut my hair, so.

[B]

I was like a different person in.

[A]

A way, and sassy and something this just fit with the character. And I swear, that's why I think I got the role, because I bet it is. Went ahead and cut my hair. And so when I got that, it was like. I mean, like, I'd won the jackpot. Like, you know, soap operas. When I. When I did a soap opera, it was very low. And I've talked about this before on the. On the acting totem pole, they were not considered cool. I mean, like, movie stars are here, and then it, you know, chick, chick, chick. And soap operas were here. Well, in my house, it was like I'd won a fricking Oscar.

[B]

Oh, because your house was. Was very centric. It was very soap centric.

[A]

Well, yes, and it was so cool because it's the show we watched, and then all of a sudden, I'm gonna be on it. It's a very big deal. So I always thought it was so cool. So when I went to play the role of Billy, I didn't feel bad about it. Like, oh, shoot, I just got a soap opera. You know, I have to do this for three years. I was like, oh, my God.

[B]

Which is why you elevated it and became the center of the show.

[A]

Well, I don't know. If you.

[B]

If you had gone in, you know, thinking, having this attitude about soaps that there being less than y know, you probably wouldn't have worked so hard, but you worked your butt off. I was there. I mean, I. I saw what you did every day in order to get ready to go and go to work every day. I mean, you worked your butt off.

[A]

Yeah, sure. Soaps are very difficult because it's a show a day, and you got to learn your lines the night before. It is really the best training.

[B]

Never forget one night you came home and you said, oh, my God, you had 40. 40 pages of dialogue to memorize in one night. Yeah, I'll never forget that.

[A]

I won't either.

[B]

I made some spaghetti for you.

[A]

I went in the bath, you poured me a glass of wine, and I cried. I cried in the bathtub. Because then you just gotta pull it together and do it because, you know, you have, what, 25 people watching you and making the show work on stage like you. You have to show up prepared or you're letting down.

[B]

Yeah, but don't a lot of Soap actors have people with cue cards because there's so many lines, you can't memorize them all.

[A]

Yeah, but I didn't know how to do that. So, like, I'd be working with, you know, one of the older actors at the time. Oh, gosh, I forget their names. Exactly. But they'd have cue cards. And, you know, you have to train with cue cards because you have to look over here and then look at the actor. But if you're looking at your cue cards, you're not looking at the actor. So it takes a minute to figure out how to do that.

[B]

Well, on Saturday Night Live, they don't. They all have.

[A]

They're looking like this, and they're all.

[B]

Looking at the cue cards. They're not looking at the person you talk to.

[A]

That's right. So I could never really, like, figure that out. I used it on the talk show, obviously. Because when you're doing the talk show, it's in your camera, so they run your dialogue. What do you call that? A teleprompter? Teleprompter. Thank you. So it's in your teleprompter. So you just look at your camera and you're reading your lines. Well, they don't do that on an acting job. And those cue cards would just fuck me up, so I couldn't do the cue cards.

[B]

So you would memorize 40 pages of dialogue in one night?

[A]

Yes. But I remember at one point saying. Because, you know, on soap operas, you basically regurgitate the same dialogue for a year. You're telling the same story for a year because people are tuning in. Not maybe every day.

[B]

You kind of have to do exposition over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

[A]

Right. So you're really saying the same thing 45,000 different ways. So I remember at one point, maybe two years in, I was like, guys, you gotta help me. If I even get close, please take it. Like, if it sounds like it's good enough, please take it. Because otherwise I will shoot myself in the head. I can't remember all the story.

[B]

Clearly, whatever you did worked because you became the center of that show and people still remember you from that show. And people come to me on a daily basis and say, oh, my God, I was such a huge fan of your wife on Days of Our Lives. And I always expect, like, the Housewives to come out or some other. Or Melrose Place, but no, Days of Our Lives.

[A]

Big fan base. And, you know, it was a really great time Christian Alfonso was on maternity leave. So, you know, Beau and Hope were the big storyline when I came on. And she'd gone on maternity leave. So Peter Reckle had also left at the time. And that's when they brought in Robert Kelker Kelly to play Beau and Billy. And so that created this new dynamic. And it was just a. It was kind of just a lucky streak, I think, for me.

[B]

Yeah. Felt like you worked. I mean, this. Soaps are an amazing training ground for actors. I mean, after you work on a soap for a few years, you are a samurai.

[A]

You can do anything. Yeah, you can do anything.

[B]

I mean, I've done. I've never done a soap, but I've done feature films and I've done, you know, primetime TV and a feature film. You know, when you're doing. Shooting two pages a day or one page a day, you know, I mean, no, you arrive on the set when we were shooting Making Love. Arthur Hiller, great director he was. Already had Oscar nominations. I think he'd won Oscars. He'd done all this amazing work. And he said, listen, this is the way I work. I come in somewhere between 9 and 10 in the morning and I'll never work past 5 in the afternoon. So whatever work we're gonna get done is gonna take place between nine and five.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

And so we would arrive on the set and we would pull up a chair and we'd sit and we'd talk about the scene we were gonna shoot that day. We'd talk for an hour and a half about the scene. Just shoot the shit.

[A]

You're kidding.

[B]

Then we. And look at the set. We'd kind of rehearse it a few times and maybe we might get a shot in before lunch. And then after lunch we'd have to finish up.

[A]

Wow. Those were the days.

[B]

They really were. I mean, I gotta tell you. I mean. But. But talk about boring too.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Because a lot of people just like to hear themselves talk.

[A]

Oh, Jesus.

[B]

You know, actors and directors and all this stuff, they just want to be. They want to sound like they know what they're doing.

[A]

I think that would make me crazy.

[B]

It is crazy making. So when I started working in TV, you know, you work at a 10 times faster.

[A]

And then soaps are 10 times 10 times faster than that.

[B]

I know. So you become a total samurai doing a soap.

[A]

Yeah. You know, you'd be lucky to get two takes. Yeah, that's all you got, two takes. So, you know, you better figure it out. Cause they'll take anything they have 80 to 100 pages to shoot in one day. So, like, if you're close.

[B]

Wait a minute. 80 to 100 pages? Holy shit.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How could you do that? Oh, my God.

[A]

You have at least. I would have at least eight scenes in one day. Just me. And then there's everybody else and other people, too.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I don't know how. And, you know, they're still doing it. I mean, they're still. Let's see. They just launched a new soap on cbs. So there's three shows on CBS and one on abc. So there's only four soaps left in the world.

[B]

What about abc?

[A]

In abc, none. Oh, except for Days went to Peacock. So technically, Days is still there. Okay, wait, so there's Days, General Hospital, Young and the Restless, Bold and the Beautiful, and then this new one, Something about the Gates. So there's five.

[B]

They wouldn't make a new soap opera unless they felt that the genre was somehow still okay. Right.

[A]

It took the place of a talk show. It took the place of the talk.

[B]

Of the talk, yes. Oh, right.

[A]

So it's very surprising at this point because I certainly didn't see that coming back. And I do think that people like to watch their stories.

[B]

Okay, so I'll walk into the bedroom on any given day now, and I'll see the TV on and there's some.

[A]

Soap on for comfort. A lot of times, like around that time of the day, I will put on Young and the Restless or Bold and the Beautiful, or When Days was more on NBC. I would. Because it's comforting.

[B]

It's just playing in the background. You're not watching it. You don't know what the storyline is. No, really, it's just the sound of the soap and the.

[A]

And I know all the characters because all the people have been on this Soap for, like, 40 years.

[B]

That's right. People stay on the same on the soap. Those shows go on forever.

[A]

Eric Braeden, Melanie Scott Thomas. Melanie Thomas Scott. They've been on that show for 40 years. So when I turn it on, I go, oh, there are my friends that I know. Like, it's comforting. It's so weird. Imagine having a job for 40, 45 years. The same acting job. That's them.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

They've played the same character for 45 fricking years.

[B]

I would be bored out of my mind if I did that. I was so bored on LA Law after five years, you know, it's like, take me anywhere, give me anything else to do. But this. I've been doing it for five years. Day after day. I love the people and everything, but at some point you go, wait a minute. There's more to life than this. There's more than Michael Kuszak, which is my character's name in LA Law. I mean, there's more to life than Michael Kuzak.

[A]

Yeah, well, that's what you did. You left after five years, right?

[B]

Yeah. As soon as my contract was up, I left. Well, you know, I wanted to direct. I thought I said to Steven Bochko, God rest his soul, they didn't let you know. I said, I'll come back for a year because they wanted me to come back. I was one of the stars of the show. And they wanted me to come back for years six and seven. And I said, great, I'd happy to come. Just can I direct one show in season six and two shows in season seven? And they said, absolutely not.

[A]

And now they're really letting actors do that all the time. It's a big thing. So it just wasn't really that thing.

[B]

Well, people were doing it then. It's just that Steven Bochko didn't want any actors directing on his show.

[A]

Oh, well. Yeah, so there's that.

[B]

There is that. So I didn't go back.

[A]

Do you regret it at all, or you like that decision that you made?

[B]

Yeah, I like, you know, most of the decisions I make, I make based upon a gut feeling of some kind. And I've always trusted that. And I have no regrets. I mean, I'd like to imagine what life would have been like if I had, you know, signed a big contract and become a big movie star or gone on to do many more.

[A]

Well, but you can't really know that.

[B]

It's like trying to prove a negative. You can't. So I just. I. I make my decisions and I stick with them. And I have no regrets.

[A]

I had always said to myself, I'm going to leave Days of Our Lives. I'm going to only do it for three years, because everybody that does a soap stays. And I wanted to just be able to try other things. Cause I knew if I stayed, I'd never leave.

[B]

You'd probably still be there.

[A]

I would.

[B]

If you, Billy Reid, would still be a major character on that show, you'd.

[A]

Have a. I would never have gone.

[B]

We would not have had kids. We probably wouldn't have gotten married.

[A]

Well, who knows? So I knew that. I mean, everyone thought I was crazy to leave because, you know, it was like the height of my time on that show. And I just remember saying, I have to do It. I have to try because if I don't, I will stay here for 40 years.

[B]

I think I might have been encouraging you to move along too, because we didn't say no.

[A]

Like, you weren't like, oh, you should stay. You have a steady job. You didn't do that. No.

[B]

Because you were 50 weeks out of the year, or maybe even 51 weeks out of the year.

[A]

It was 50.

[B]

Yeah. And.

[A]

And I had two weeks off.

[B]

And those. Those two weeks were Christmas, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So. Yeah. So we had no life. I mean, we would have to steal away on weekends. And I took.

[A]

You remember, I went to Muskoka for a weekend and.

[B]

Yeah. We came to our cabin in Canada for one weekend, Your first weekend. We have great pictures of that, though.

[A]

I know.

[B]

Great picture of you wearing no clothes at all.

[A]

Oh, that is a great picture. I took a. I like, soaked myself up and went in the.

[B]

In the lake.

[A]

Lake. That was a weekend. That's true. No life. And, you know, I always say, I gotta have a life. You have to have a life. I can't bring life to my work if I don't have life. So I can't work like that. I can work super, super, super hard, but if I can't go and live life, then I'm just dead at the job.

[B]

For me, I mean, this is. I remember I was sitting on the dock a couple of years ago talking to Cindy. Cindy Crawford. Name drop. Shoot.

[A]

Wow. First name. No, first name drop was Kim Kardashian today. So this is his second.

[B]

And we were talking about careers and stuff. And I said, you know, the Hollywood kind of wanted me to become a commodity a couple of times during my career. And I decided I didn't want to go that route. Because if you really think about it, the life of a big movie star is not much of a life at all. I mean, they're going from set to set. You've got to start your next movie the day you finish your last movie because you're in such demand. So you're just making movie after movie after movie. And if your movies don't. If each one doesn't do better than.

[A]

The last one, it's a lot of pressure.

[B]

There's a of lot. A lot of pressure. A lot of pressure.

[A]

A lot of pressure.

[B]

And I just decided, you know what? There won't be any life in there. I won't be able to squeeze any life. Because I knew if I wanted to.

[A]

Do it, you could do it in a hot second. It was handed to you on a silver Platter with a gold lid.

[B]

I could have, yeah, Warner Brothers would have made me into a huge, huge movie star if I had gone that route. And I wouldn't be sitting here today. I would not have the beautiful children that I have now. Might have other children. I would not be married today.

[A]

You might not even be alive.

[B]

More than likely would not be alive because that was the 80s, remember? So I would have been a hugely famous and a gigantic.

[A]

And maybe snorted it all up your nose and who knows what.

[B]

Truly, that's like proving a negative once again. But the choice that I made was to live to have a life and then struggle a little bit more from movie to movie or project to project. But at least I had time off when I wanted time off, and no one was telling me what to do, what to say, how to do it, or who to say it to, and I was free.

[A]

Yeah, we've been very blessed in being able to make choices and not have to be like, okay, I have to stay at this job for X amount of years. We've been very lucky with that. It's tentative, knock on wood.

[B]

There's nothing secure about our life.

[A]

There is nothing secure about our life. Unless you had a steady gig. And there's no such thing as a.

[B]

Steady gig in acting.

[A]

No, in acting, there's just not. It doesn't. I mean, everybody ends a job, whether you're on Saturday Night Live, whether you're on a soap opera, whether you're on a housewife show, whatever, it ends. And then you go, okay, now what?

[B]

You know, yeah, you gotta save your pennies. I'll never forget Charlie Haid, who was on Hill Street Blues, came up to the day that I first met him. I was just starting to do LA Law, and he had been on the show previous to LA Law that Steven Bochko was doing Hill Street Blues. And. And Charlie said, oh, congratulations. Being on one of Stephen's shows, it's going to do great. It's going to be a big hit. Save your pennies.

[A]

Wow. Is that what he said?

[B]

Save your pennies. Anyway, you got a lot of beautiful shoes.

[A]

I saw my American Express bill today and I was like, oh, my God.

[B]

I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to know.

[A]

Well, all of them, all the bills, but that one in particular, I was like, I need a job.

[B]

Okay. Anyway, have we answered that question?

[A]

Yeah, I think we're almost done. I think we can move on to the next podcast. That was good. We'll answer some more questions next time.

[B]

Hey, everybody. Thanks once again for checking in to let's Not Talk About Me.

[A]

That was good. I liked it. Thanks for listening to our show. You can catch new episodes every Friday.

[B]

And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss anything.

[A]

Yeah, and if you liked what you.

[B]

Heard, consider leaving us a rating or review. And make sure to tell all your friends, too. I mean, like, everyone you know and their mother.

[A]

If you have a question for us or you need advice, God help you. Leave a voicemail using the link in our show notes. We might just answer your question in a future episode. Now you can find us on social media, LisaRina on Instagram, and then I'm LisaRinaOfficial on TikTok.

[B]

And I'm HarryRhamlin on Instagram.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

So see you next week.

[A]

Until then, let's not talk about the husband. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.